Insights from Our Experts

By Mark Sprague, Independence Title’s Director of Information Capital When should I buy?  You should have bought 5 years ago!  Five years from now, you should have bought 10 years ago.  […]

By Roland Love, Independence Title Vice President and Attorney & Becky Gervers, Technology Trainer On September 1, 2025, a new law takes effect in Texas that every licensed real estate […]

by Mark Sprague, Independence Title’s Director of Information Capital The most common question I get is “When are we going to return to normal?”  My response to you is: “What is […]

By Roland Love, Independence Title Vice President and Attorney So who is FinCEN? (Hint: it’s not a fish committing a moral lapse). What is even happening?  Why would “they” do […]

Ensure your Texas homestead exemption is up-to-date to reduce property taxes. Learn how to qualify and keep tabs on your status for maximum savings now.

Discover how rising tariffs impact housing costs, labor, and building materials. Explore strategies for homebuilders and real estate investors.

  By Roland Love, Independence Title Vice President and Attorney Hold on tight … for now, the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) is again on hold. The U.S. Court of Appeals […]

By Karen Burnett, Senior Vice President, Escrow Manager FinCEN is part of the US Department of the Treasury that was created to help identify how some cash funds were being […]

By Kara McGregor, Independence Title’s Sr. VP of Branding and Public Relations Real Estate transactions are a rich target for fraudsters and cyber criminals, with valuable assets and staggering amounts […]

by Mark Sprague, Independence Title’s Director of Information Capital The real estate market is changing. For the last 10+ years, lending rates have been artificially low. That, in turn, with […]

by Kara McGregor, Senior Vice President; Roland Love, Attorney and Vice President; and Kaema Roberson, Vice President of Education June 24, 2024 – As the legal landscape on agent commissions […]

Real Estate Market Update from Mark Sprague Independence Title’s Director of Information Capital In real estate, the big question is:  “When will we return to normalcy?” Would anyone be surprised if […]

by Mark Sprague, Independence Title’s Director of Information Capital DATELINE: May 3, 2024 The Federal Reserve will likely maintain higher interest rates for an extended period due to firmer-than-expected inflation […]

Per the Wall Street Journal: “Once America’s Hottest Housing Market, Austin is Running in Reverse” Rebuttal from Mark Sprague, Director of Information Capital, Independence Title The proposition by the media: […]

Compliance update for the 2023 year-end and the 2024 new year By Roland Love, Independence Title Vice President, Attorney, and Educator The Corporate Transparency Act, which goes into effect in […]

By Mark Sprague, State Director of Information Capital A question Realtors, economists, real estate analysts, and more have been getting for the past 18+ months: Has the residential real estate market changed? For […]

By Mark Sprague, State Director of Information Capital The market had hoped that moderating inflation would have a positive impact on rates by the middle of this year. Not going to happen. Not […]

By Mark Sprague, State Director of Information Capital The Federal Reserve Bank’s policy-making committee (FOMC) raised rates this week (at the November 1-2 meeting) by .75% and kept a hawkish tone given the […]

Compiled by Mark Sprague, State Director of Information Capital The other day was the Federal Reserve meeting; their decision was another 75-basis point / ¾ point rate hike. Mortgage rates have surged […]

By Mark Sprague, State Director of Information Capital Jobs nationally and locally continue to be created at a robust pace. (Job openings are twice the number of people out of work nationally and […]

By Roland Love, Vice President, Business Alliances & Field Operations Our recent note regarding the legislative change generally allowing a person to claim a homestead exemption anytime during the year […]

By Mark Sprague, State Director of Information Capital As many of you look to 2022 and beyond, we all know it’s really anybody’s guess as to what the future holds. However, many of […]

By Kaema Roberson, VP – Director of Education If you haven’t already heard, beginning September 1, 2021, sellers will be required to provide notice to buyers when selling property located […]

I keep getting these questions: “What are builders doing on purchasing lumber at these high prices?” “Any recommendations on when this will go down and how long?” and “Will prices […]

By Mark Sprague, State Director of Information Capital Here’s an update on some recent questions I’ve been considering, with input and feedback from much wiser analysts/economists whose seminars I have […]

Yes, you read that correctly. Every few years, the Texas Department of Insurance (the state agency that regulates title insurance) looks at title industry data to see how we are doing, […]

Texas real estate can be pretty weird. In the rest of the country, for example, the idea of paying a seller a small fee in exchange for giving the potential […]

You’ve done it!  You took a Buyer from shopping for a house, to a contract on a house, to the closing table and you couldn’t be more ecstatic for them.  Then… in total shock you find out […]